GLADIATOR (2000) | MOVIE REACTION | FIRST TIME WATCHING 

When the whole world cheers your death, you know your acting performance was magnificent. Joaquin Phoenix deserved an Academy Award along with Russell Crowe.

Yeah Joaquin Phoenix made Commodus one of the best film villains of all time

Always loved that they carried Maximus away with a soldier's honors and left Commodus lying in the sand. 😂

The late great Oliver Reed did such a fantastic job as Proximo - one of my favourite character arcs in cinema, very well written. "Proximo, are you in danger of becoming a good man?" is still to this day one of my favourite movie quotes. For those that didn't know, he died mid way through shooting Gladiator, so the final shots of him during the jail breakout were essentially CGI using footage prior to his death. Shame he was never able to see the masterpiece he helped create in it's final form.

Yeah Pheonix did well. "Can't have a great hero without a really good villain!"

One really amazing thing about this movie is that Oliver Reed, who played the gladiator trainer, died partway through filming (from a heart attack after getting drunk off his ass and winning a bunch of arm wrestling contests; he was kind of awesome). So they had to use some serious editing trickery to make his role feel like it had a natural arc, which is totally seamless.

I love how sensitive and good hearted she is...she loves the whole world! "Okay....Commodus needs to die a horrible death." Well that escalated quickly.

When Marcus Aurelius ( Richard Harris ) told Commodus ( Joachin Phoenix ) he would not be Emperor, I think the acting by Phoenix in that scene was one of the best performances I have ever seen .

I remember purchasing Gladiator on VHS in 2000. To this day, i regard this film as a masterpiece. Russell Crowe, Ridley Scott, and Hans Zimmer, need i say more? This was also the film where i became aware and fell in love with Hans Zimmer's work. "Are You Not Entertained!"

You: "Okay, Commodus needs to die, a horrible death" Literally everyone: *nods*

The ending of this film always gets me. In my opinion, the death of Maximus has to be one of the best film deaths of all time. William Wallace in Braveheart and Roy Batty in Blade Runner are up there too for me. And Hans Zimmer's piece of music at the end of the film is one of my favorite pieces of music of all time.

“Crying like a little....baby” we all know what you wanted to say haha

When you travel to rome, you will see the colosseum or what is left still standing. One of the great marvels of engineering. There are small colosseums scattered across the mediterranean.

"Now We Are Free" by Lisa Gerrard. Chills every goddamn time. Breathtakingly beautiful.

‘Is he having an end of life crisis.’ Nah, that was just Marcus Aurelius. He liked to ponder and meditate on things.

"Maximus needs to rage and kill everybody" Very accurate description of this movie

Maximus had the loyalty of the army. Without his hand in honoring 'Caesar', Commodus would be at severe risk of being overthrown. The soldiers that were going to execute Maximus were the Emperors personal guard.

A performance for the ages by Phoenix.

Both instances of Djimon Hounsou's "not yet" lines are just devastating. The first time he said it, he made Russel Crowe tear up, that was an honest response from the actor, not from the character.

Your face when Commodus dies and you say, "He did it!" in disbelief is classic.

The real Emperor Commodus was just as eccentric and deranged as he is portrayed here, perhaps even more so. He was very much hated by pretty much everyone.

“That must be the prince and his wife” Uh, about that....

Wow, what a great reaction. To this day, *_Gladiator_* is still my favorite film of all time. A few films have come close to taking its #1 spot, but not yet, not yet.

Gladiator's one of those great movies that not only delivers the action but also has a strong emotional core that makes it accessible for everyone. Great reaction!

"is this only for rich people?" actually, it was quite the opposite. it was manely for poor people, they would not only get free entry but also free food. now ofc the rich would also get various benefits, and a lot of plots for political gains were discousse during thous games due to the fact that they could meet up and discous under the pretex of spectating the games, but ofc the downside was that they had to pay for the games.

Another movie that has it all? Action, revenge, redemption, swordfights, pirates, giants, and true love? The Princess Bride!

I cried with laughter when I heard you ask, "Was that necessary?" when Maximus decapitated one of the fighters.

Among the best final 10 minutes of any film. Never gets old.

One thing I'm glad about with all these new reaction channels is it seems like some younger people may learn something about the world through beautiful art and cinema. Something they may not have otherwise known.

This is a really intense movie. My biggest criticism is some of the dialogue is a little too on the nose, but it's got great characters, a strong story, and a really good score. It's got an epic feel to it, and I love it. Glad you enjoyed it too.

When you said "They're cheering like a football game", you're right. Fighting in the arena was in fact exactly like football or MMA today, and in fact we know that gladiators could get sponsorships and sell merchandise to their adoring fans. Bonus fun fact: fighting in the arena was actually not that dangerous... as long as you were a fully trained gladiator. Gladiators fighting other fully trained gladiators to the death was actually incredibly rare, mostly because training new gladiators to replace them was an incredibly expensive prospect, especially if they were any good! Most of the time when we hear about people dying in the arena, it was petty criminals sentenced to death. Essentially gladiators became executioners with fan clubs.

My favorite Russell Crowe movie is Master and Commander. I highly recommend it. It's a great representation of what life was like aboard a British Naval ship in the early 1800's and also features a great friendship between Crowe as the Captain and the ship's doctor played by Paul Bettany.

the soundtrack for gladiator is something else. hans zimmer is amazing. and joaquin phoenix played one of the most hated characters in cinema

Saw this in theater back in 2000 and it was epic. Russell Crow followed this movie with “A Beautiful Mind” directed by Ron Howard in which he gave another Oscar worthy performance.

"oh they're coming to see his family" me: oh my sweet summer child

how they portrayed the old arena so beautifully was magical. the story is very strong . directing could not be better this movie in a masterpece . I don't see many movies that have it all but this one has it

12:25 "How can they cheer ? A human is literally dying ?" 10:37 "OK. Commodus needs to die a horrible death..." 😂

12:52 "He creeps me out...." Oh just you wait, he's not even started ! 🙈

My biggest regret (about movies) is I missed Gladiator when it was in theatres. My wife saw it twice in theatre and she doesn't let me forget that... One of the absolute greatest movies ever!

Gladiator is a classic. I went to see it at the cinema. Russell Crowe deserve to win the Oscar for his performance as Maximus.

So I'll tell you the exact moment I hit the subscribe button... "Awww, it must've been so good for him to see Cicero's face" I've seen quite a few 'reaction' videos for this movie, and I can't remember one that remembered this particular character's name. This video felt absolutely genuine, and I'm glad you were invested in the story.

"they're watching this like a football game." fun fact: every football stadium is modeled after the Roman Colosseum where gladiators fought each other and animals and stuff.

I don't know if you noticed, or if anyone else mentioned it, but the Father Emperor from the beginning (Marcus Aurelius) was played by Richard Harris -- Dumbledor! Personally, my favorite Dumbledor, from the first 2 HP movies. Unfortunately he passed away after the Chamber of Secrets, really talented actor and a looong career.

Hans Zimmer's score is so beautiful and majestic! Joaquin is tremendously creepy and effective in this role and Russell Crowed was perfect. Ripley Scott knocked it out of the park on this one!

Watching it again, a part that hit me: At the first coliseum match, when Maximus asks the other slaves "have any of you been in the army?" and like ten random dudes from that random assortment of slaves are like "yup." "You can help me. We have a better chance of surviving if we WORK. TOGETHER." That's a relatable modern veteran mood. You run into other veterans wherever you go, and it's always like "you wanna go back to back against this bullshit?" "Fuck yeah."

It was one of those movies that people would do standing ovation when i saw this in theater

I saw this in a theater and was very impressed from beginning to end and my favorite line was what we do in life, echoes in eternity

This is arguably the best of Russel Crowe’s movies. But, I REALLY love him in Master and Commander, a film you should NOT miss! Superb film!

Your next Russel Crow movie should be "Master and Commander!!"

The gladiator games were the sport of the day. You have to remember it was a brutal world. Most people died by the age of 30. Death was a daily occurrence, so to see warriors die in an epic almost superhero way was the theater of the age for the Roman Empire.

The acting was so great in this movie. The action. The themes. The overall story. The cinematography. It's probably my favorite movie of all time.

I saw Gladiator in the theatre when I was 14, and was blown away. I instantly knew it was a classic. I made my dad see it and happily watched it again with him. Amazing movie.

"Juba: Now were free ...I will see you again... but not yet... not yet." Love the last line of the movie. Awesome reaction!!!

It’s cute how innocent some of your reactions are. I don’t mean that in a patronizing way.

This was the movie that single handedly made me obsessed with Ancient Roman history and obsessed with Joaquin Phoenix. He plays villains...to perfection and I wish he did it more. ❤

correction: When Commodus is with Lucius and Lucilla, he mentions that a "little bee" told him everything. That to me means that Lucius overheard the plans and after he says "I'm Gladiator, the saviour of Rome", Commodus was told all the plans by the kid, not her.

"There was a dream that was Rome, that will be realised, for those are the final wishes of Marcus Aurelius, the one true emporer" such awesome writing.

You probably know this but Joaquin is the younger brother of River of Stand By Me that you reacted to earlier

I've grown to adore watching you watching the movies I've adored for years - the reactions are so 'oh my gosh' sweet! So glad you embarked on this project - can't imagine how you missed them all first time around!

I feel like we could compile a pretty accurate list of the all time top movie villains based solely on how many times Cassie says she dislikes a particular character.

Gladiators in history usually wouldnt have been killed off so quickly. Maybe in areas that they werent as trained but in the more developed districts Gladiators were prized heavily! You wouldnt just let a thoroughbred race horse die in a race. Also theres a lot of cultural differences between Romans modern people obviously but blood and sport was what they had. In the Arena there would also be plays, and matches against animals.

Another Russell Crowe movie you might like is LA Confidential, also staring Kim Basinger and Kevin Spacey.

One of the few films that I own on VHS and DVD. It's that good.

Trivia. The director, Ridley Scott's favorite film is Zulu (1963). He pays homage to Zulu at the beginning of Gladiator. The German tribes war chant is the same war chant the Zulu warriors do in that film.

Not only rich people, a ton of poor people go for free. They'd get free bread too, was a way to give people entertainment and keep order.

The first time I went to Rome I was staying a 15 minute walk from the Colosseum, and I walked to it with my dad the first night we were there. What remains is breathtaking. Seeing it before it decayed and was was picked apart by scavengers is a dream that can only happen through the magic of film.

I watch a lot of movie reaction channels bc I love seeing other people's thoughts, reactions & emotions about a movie. Whether we agree on things or see it in a completely different way. I've just binge watched 6 or 7 of your reactions and *LOVED* every single one. Your emotional involvement & realness while watching is beautiful to see. A lot of these channels just react with generic terms like "That was good" or "I didn't like that" without telling us why they did or didn't like it, what they thought of the story and characters, & how it made them feel. You do it all with a realness I find honest and refreshing. You're now my new favourite reaction channel. You gotta be doing something right to get so many subs so quickly. Just keep being you.

This movie is a storytelling masterpiece. We need more variety in movies these days.

Would also recommend "Cinderella Man" with Crowe. Based on the life of heavyweight boxer James J. Braddock.I think he did a great job in it.

Joaquin Phoenix killed it! You know an actor does a great job when you despises the character he played.

This movie is very effective. Every time I see someone react to it, they get very emotionally. Hats of to the cast, writer and director. Joachim Phoenix did just a great job in this part thst he gets lost in the role and everyone hates him and cheers when he gets defeated. It's always easy to be the hero in a movie the hard part is being an effective villain. And to be remembered decades later, his performance sticks with you.

I had a world history teacher that had us watch this movie in high school when we covered ancient Rome. To this day I still quote the movie daily XD

I love this channel. Such a great movie. I saw this in the theaters the day it opened. I had a free pass to it. Back then, film advertising was different and neither Russell Crowe nor Joaquin Phoenix was a super star. With a name like Gladiator, no one expected much. It was so amazing to realize you were watching a film that would be remembered for years or decades.

So genuine... No over reaction just for the camera... Just pure first time reaction. Love it 😊

This movie is amazing. I loved it so much i named my Husky after him the next year. He was the best dog and now i have his name tattooed on my shoulder. It’s kinda funny now hearing “Maximus” in reference to the movie and not my dearly departed dog. 😄 Edit: ive also run into 2 people who named their sons Maximus because of this movie!

Gladiator is one of those very rare movies that you not only watch it, but you experience it... astounding film!

If I were to recommend a movie, 'Master and Commander' is a really good one, and also stars Russell Crowe. It's not nearly as intense as Gladiator, but it is still a great movie and one of my favourites.

When I saw you had watched this I was shocked. You’re so tender hearted I wouldn’t have recommended it. Here we go!

I first saw Gladiator at a party with my fellow high school seniors shortly after it was released to home video. It was only the second R-rated film I had ever seen (the first was Braveheart), and I felt amazingly grown up watching it. I have had a lifelong fascination with history, and was just blown away by the story, effects and characters.

The acting and music were superb! This was actually the 1st DVD I ever bought because I liked this movie so much, it will always have a special place for me and my father (R.I.P.), who watched it together with me. Keep smiling 🤘🙂

I hope movies like this spark interest in learning history a little bit.

As far as I know, this movie sparked an interest in making movies set in the ancient era, followed by movies such as "Alexander", "300" and "Troy"

The historical Lucilla was involved in a conspiracy against her brother very similar to the movie, but that plot was crushed and Lucilla executed on Comodus' orders several years before he was actually assassinated. Quintus the Praetorian Prefect was an actual historical figure too, he actually arranged the murder of Comodus, together with Comodus' lover Marcia. The Praetorian Guard than basically took over Rome and after murdering the next, Senate friendly emperor Pertinax because he didn't pay them enough they sold the throne to the highest bidder, one Didius Julianus, murdered him as well, leading to all out civil war until Septimius Severus defeated all his rivals, took the throne and founded a new dynasty that kept basic stability for a couple generations (despite the fact that every emperor of that dynasty except Septimius himself was also assassinated). Septimius Severus had Quintus executed and sacked the entire then Praetorian Guard, by the way, replacing them with soldiers from his own loyal legions.

That's the first movie to have ever made me cry.... what a masterpiece!

Other great performances by Russell Crowe: LA Confidential, The Insider, A Beautiful Mind, Master and Commander, Cinderella Man, and 3:10 to Yuma. He is an amazing actor. All of these would be great to react to.

This movie takes place in the Classical Era and continues until the fall of the Western Roman Empire which marks the beginning of the Medieval Era which ran until the Renaissance then the Industrial Revaluation, then the Modern Era.

Just a quick note: Marcus Aurelius was one of the great Stoic philosophers. He had to be, to cope with the pressure of being Cæsar. And, btw, the sanctity of life is a relatively new concept.

The end always gets me crying

I saw this when it first came out at the cinema. Great performances from Crowe and Phoenix as well as a very stirring and emotional score. Very nice reaction and commentary by the way.

"how do you get a ticket to one of these things?" you are precious!

I've just discovered your channel about 30m ago -- The Last of the Mohicans, one of my fav films in history... now onto Gladiator. Awesome videos and great content! I'm literally making myself some popcorn right now as we speak hehehe @@ lol

Master and commander, A beautiful mind and The insider should do enough for you to forget his performance in Les Mis. Hope to see them on your channel one of these days.

I LOVE this channel and this woman's reactions. She is so taken aback by so many things most people accept as just, cinema. It is a great thing to come across a reactor who has not actually seen the movie they are reacting to. Examples of Shawshank and Back to the Future come to mind. I am very much looking forward to her choices for other reactions. She is great! 👍

I have only seen two movies that got me to actually tear up a bit while still in the theater: Gladiator and Brian’s Song. I think it would really help women to see what men actually value in life. I was married for six years before I ever told her how something she’d done (no, she didn’t cheat) made me feel. She said later on she didn’t even think men had emotions at all, and she was dead serious. Women talk about men opening up, but most women don’t like the conversations that come about and lose respect for men they supposedly love if that stoic facade ever slips. Gladiator touches a nerve for a lot of men because we know we are not really part of “polite” society and are seen as expendable by the vast majority of women in every society since the beginning of time. This was the first video I’d seen of this channel, and I saw a lot of honest reactions in there. Men will move heaven and Earth for “women and children first;” it was even visible in the #1 chick-flick of all time! Jack even died freezing in the Atlantic so that Rose was out of danger.

Man oh man...the soundtrack is a masterpiece.

Not ashamed to say I cried during the ending of this movie at the first time I saw it in theaters. It's the last movie I could think of that I actually saw twice in theaters.

Joaquin Phoenix is a wonderful villain in that movie, so mean, nasty and sneaky with some good dialogues, he played that so well. Killing people like his family were really common in times like these. It was a statement and a warning message.

I've seen a couple of your reactions now and I have to say, your editing is really on point, and watching you react is like watching the movie with you, best "reactor" on RU-vid by far :) Hope you reach millons of subscribers one day, you deserve it :)

Absolute masterpiece of a film! Story, acting, score, the whole lot. Awesome to see you branching out and reacting to genres you wouldn't have chosen in the past. 👍 After looking at your channel, might I suggest The Last Samurai? It's another one of my faves and really well made.

The movie summed up in two lines. People should know when they’re conquered. Would you quintus? Would I?